My Favorite Moments

Welcome to the April Carnival of Breastfeeding!! This month’s topic is ”extended breastfeeding.” Please be sure to visit the other blogs who are participating in this month’s carnival (links at the end of this post).

When I heard about this months topic, I was thrilled. Extended breastfeeding is something that I feel like I know a LOT about. My son nursed until he was nearly four after all. But when I was trying to come up with something to write about, I couldn’t come up with anything. I have already told you about my own breastfeeding journey. I have written about how it felt after it was over. I have written about extended breastfeeding and why some people don’t understand it. I have written about TV specials that highlighted moms who nursed beyond that magical age of 1. And I have even written about how my breastfeeding goals have changed with time – and how I started out with one goal and changed it again and again as we continued to nurse longer and longer. I even reviewed a great little book on weaning!So what is left??

I guess the only thing that I haven’t written about yet is what my favorite breastfeeding moments were. And as I think back on my nearly four years of breastfeeding, almost all of my favorite moments are of times in the toddler years. My absolute favorite breastfeeding session was the early morning one. This was something we did from day one – but it became even more special when my son was old enough to get out of his bed all on his own and come over and crawl into bed with me. We would snuggle, nurse and fall asleep together. It would mean that I always got a little morning snuggle time and I always got a little extra sleep. It was my favorite time of the day. And when I thought about my son weaning and how he was getting older, I always thought this would be the last one to go – since it seemed like it was his favorite time of the day too. But then one day – he just stopped coming into our bed. He would go downstairs and play all by himself or he would come get me and say he wanted me to come downstairs and play with him. No more sleeping in – no more snuggles – the world has far too many things to do and see for that mom! It was actually one of the first to go!

Some of my other favorite moments include my son nursing his own dolls – or having them nurse each other! I even remember one time when we were shopping in the dollar store and my son had a skeleton that he wanted to buy. He was pretending the skeleton was our baby and he told me “wife, our baby needs to eat” and he stuck the skeleton right up to my breast! At the time, I was quite embarrassed! But looking back on it, I see how sweet and innocent it really was.

I also did sign language with my son when he was an infant. We started signing the basics (nursing, eating, water, book, sleep, etc) when he was very young. As he got older and got more verbal (my son was a very early speaker – actually said his first words at 9 months and had 35 words under his belt at age 13 months), he signed less and less. But one of the last signs that he gave up and one of the last words that he spoke was “nurse.” He signed for nursing long after he stop using all of his other signs – and I can’t remember when it was that he started speaking the words, but it was well beyond 18-24 months. I loved that he would sign for this! And when he did start speaking the words, he would call my breasts “nursies” – which he did even after he weaned. That’s just what they were to him.

I went away on a business trip once when he was about 3 years old and I was worried that he would wean while I was gone because I was away for five days. My parents actually came out to help my husband out while I was away since it was my first time away from them. When I got back I asked him if he had a good time. He said he did and told me about some of the things that they did. And then out-of-the-blue he said “I had fun, but Grammy didn’t nurse me!” I asked my mother if he asked her to nurse him and she said that he didn’t mention it once. In fact, she thought we had already weaned because he didn’t seem to miss it or inquire about it at all. The way in which their little minds work in the toddler years is so fascinating!!

What were your favorite breastfeeding moments? Please leave a comment and share them! And please visit the links below to read all of the other great stories in this months Breastfeeding Carnival!!

Lovely post, Judy! I think a lot of moms are afraid of how our babies (even “older babies”) will do when they’re separated from us. It seems they all know the nursing come from mommy and only mommy can nurse. Just like we don’t go around looking for other babies to breastfeed, they’re not looking for a substitute mommy, either. Thanks again for your post, it’s so nice to read stories of other dyads that took the biologically normal route over the culturally normal one … hopefully we’re changing the tide and opening the door for future mothers to feel comfortable doing the same.

Great stories! I get sad when I think of weaning. It is so much better (for us mothers) that it be a gradual process. I don’t think our hearts could bear it otherwise, especially those of us that have nursed beyond 1 year.

Morning time is one of my favorites as well. My husband works very early and gets home before we wake. I usually get up when he gets home, but Sasha sleeps longer. When she starts to fuss awake, we often both climb into bed around her. She nurses herself slowly awake (or asleep, depending on the day) and then snuggles with each of us.

I love it when my girls nurse their dolls, or animals or trucks or have me do it! I can relate to the sign language as well. My second daughter did not pick up on many signs (she is a chatterbox at 19 months) but the one sign that she knows and loves is… milk. She only uses in in reference to mama’s milk, not cow’s milk though. Hahaha!

Love this topic! I write a lot of posts on my breast feeding experience and opinions. I’ve nursed all seven of my children extensively, but never past the age of 2. With my 7 month old I’m hoping to nurse her past the age of 2 if, she so desires

Thanks for sharing your stories! I especially love how your son demonstrated nursing with his toys. It’s amazing how children grow psychologically with the nursing process– thanks for the window into your experiences!

This is a great post for the breastfeeding carnival. I haven’t been away from my kids (except for one emergency hospital stay) but the other two memories are in my top favorites as well. The sign language and communicating breastmilk and breastfeeding love just melt my heart. And breastfeeding toys, both watching them do it as well as having them hand me toys to nurse. Priceless. My absolute favorite has to be looking down at them when their tandem nursing as they hold hands, play with one another’s fingers, lock eyes, and giggle with each other. Seeing their bonding happen first hand has been just amazing.